MASTER 

NEGATIVE 
NO.  94-821 27 


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Author: 


Dartnell  corporation 


Title: 


Practical  ways  of 
increasing  sales  call 

Place: 

Chicago 

Date: 

[192- 


MASTER   NEGATIVE  # 


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«••  Praotioal  ways  of  inoreasing  sales  call 
efficiency;  how  concerns  in  various  lines  of  busi- 
ness  are  cutting  down  the  cost  per  call,«« 
Chicago  £l92-?3 

17  1.  fonn,  29  cm.   (Special  report,  no*  57) 


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DARTNELL  CORPORATION 
SPECIAL  HEPOr:?  NO. 57 


PRACTICAL  VAYS  OF  INCREASING  SALES  CALL  EFFICIENCY 


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Columbia  iHnitJewttp 

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LIBRARY 


School  of  Business 


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SPECIAL   RXPOR 


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PRACTICAL  PAYS  OF  IKGREASIKG  SALES  GALL  EFFICIENCY; 
H0»  CONCERNS  IN  VARIOUS  L1.NE8  OF  BUSINESS 
ARK  CUTTINQ  DO»U  THS  C05T  PIR  GALL 


LIBRARY 
SCHOOL  OF  BUSINES.^ 


Compiled  by 
THE  DARTNELL  CORPORATION 
CHICAGO 


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Mo 


PtJRPOSl  OF  THIS  RRPORT 


In  presenting  this  collection  of  plans »  we  realize  that  very 
few  of  them  will  be  directly  applicabl*^  to  your  specific  busi- 
ness.  Our  object,  hoW6V«?r,  is  not  so  much  to  furnish  you  with 
ready  mada  vlans  for  increasing  sales  call  efficiency,  as  it 
is  to  set  you  thinking  along  these  lines.   In  making  a  recent 
investigation  as  to  the  cost  per  call  in  over_30Q  lines  of_ 
business,  we  found  that  less  than  3%   of  the  concerns  replying 
to  our  questionaire  had  any  iaea""as"to  hov  much  "it  cost  a^ 
saXesmaa  to  call  on  a  cugtomer. 

A  salesman  can  make  just  so  many  calls  a  day,  and  the  percent- 
age of  sales  resulting  from  these  calls,  dep*?r^ds  very  largely 
on  the  manner  in  which  he  capitalizes  the  time  spent  in  the 
buyer's  presence,   ie  hope  the  suggestions  embodied  in  the 
following  pages  will  prove  useful  is  assisting  you  to  devise 
some  systematic  methods  through  which  your  salesmen  may  be  en- 
abled to  reduce  their  cost  per  call,  and  increase  their  per- 
centage of  sales  to  calls* 

•e  wish  to  thank  the  following  subscribers  for  the  co-opera- 
tion extended  in  the  preparation  of  this  report: 

L.  J.  Cong«r,  gent^ral  sales  manager.  Corona  Typewriter  Co. 
R.  C.  Thompson,  treasurer.  Globe  Opivical  Company 
H.  B.  Peterson,  general  sales  manager,  Beaver  Board  Companies 
H.  R,  Gillette,  sales  manager,  Walter  A.  Woods  Machinery  Go 

D,  H.  ffright,  secretary,  Wright,  Barrett  &   Stilwell  Co. 
Martin  h.   Pierce,  rod^e'g.  manager.  Hoover  Suction  Swer,*per  Co. 
Donald  y.  Wall,  asst.  sales  manager,  Luther  Grinder  Mfg.  Co. 
J.  J.  McPhillips,  manager  service  dept.  ,  JSeamans  &  Cobb  Co. 

§•  S.  Butcher,  general  sales  manager.  The  National  Roofing  Go. 
Kingmsui  Brewster,  vice-president,  Greenfittld  Tap  &  Die  Corp. 
H.  W.  Alexander,  asst.  to  president,  American  iritlng  Pa^mr  Co. 

E.  K.  Wcodrow,  sales  manager,  Kroho,  Fechheimer  Company 
George  B.  Malone,  sales  manager,  Dayton  Spice  Mills  Conapftny 
W.  A.  McDermld,  sales  manager,  The  Mennen  Chemical  Company 
A.  M.  Cossitt,  sales  manager.  The  Strouse-Baer  Company 

i.  E.  Laidlaw,  sales  manager,  The  Dayton  ffire  iheel  Company 

P.  S,  Salisbury,  sale:?  manager,  Robt.  H.  Jngersjoll  Brothers 

G.  B.  Weber,  sales  manager,  Benjamin  Electric  Company 

S.  C.  Jones,  advertising  manager,  James  S.  Kirk  &  Company 

R.  K.  Russell,  general  sales  manager.  Duplicator  Mfg.  Co. 


A  SPECIAL  aiPORT  DI^CRIBINa  ACTOAL  USTHODS 


BY  iHICH  C0WCRRN3  IN  VARIOUS  LiNfS  OF  BUS- 


IN1BSS  ARE  IKGRBASING  3ALK3  CALL  EFFICIENCY 


All  material  embodied  in  this  report  has  been  contributed  by 
subscribers  to  the  Dssrtnell  MoothJy  Sales  Service  and  is  fully 
protected  against  use  by  m^igazln'^s,  trat^e  paptrs,  etc.,  with- 
out specific  permission  from  the  interested  concerns. 


IHAT  IT  COSTS  A  SALKBMAN  TO  MAKE  A  CALL:   Subacriberjj  who  have  made  inquiry 
into  the  cost  per  call  have  invariably  been  surprised  at  the  result  of  their 
figures.   While  such  figures  prove  little  t^xcept  as  a  reflection  of  effective 
management,  they  are  neverthelesd  interesting,  because  they  crystalize  a  fact 
that  we  are  all  inclined  to  lose  sight  of  at  times  --  namely,  that  it  costs 
the  house  a  definite  sum  of  money  every  time  a  salesman  calls  on  a  buyer,  and 


reminds  us  of  the  importance  of  getting  full  returns  from  this  expenditure. 
To  that  end,  we  are  tabulating  the  information  returned  to  ua  on  that  subject 


A  large  national  t.ire  orftanix^tion: 


Our  aaleBnoan's  celling  cost  i&   about  Z% 

^^  ^^^  sale.   Dividing  this  expense 
against  sales  in  both  city  and  country 

territory,  we  get  |4>51  for  th«  city  and 
|12,3Q  for  the  country^         ^   . 

The  cjaker  of  a  nationally  advertised, It  costs  our  aaleRmen  about  6%   to  .^ell  a 

^^  bill  J) f  good 3.   Our  ^vbS^^^'  ^Q^^'  ftaj^-^all 

popular  priced  line  of  watcher:      in  all  territory  is  |i.43^  Thi-;  Is 

steadily  rising. 


A  St,  Paul  wholesale  dry  goods 


house: 


Cost  per  call  $7.50, 


Manufacturer  of  bearing  metnl: 


A  distributor  of  lighting  fixtures: 


Our  saleiitnaD*»  selling  cost  !&  5Xi_Cost 
per  call  now  averages  |8*00« 


Salesosan's  selling  cost  loi  of  sales,  an 
increase  of  1%   over  19lffl  Average  cost 
per  call  t3,50. 


t 


i 


I 


A  lar^e  lithographer  doi^f  « 


cational  busiBsss: 


A  s<!*ed   concerr?: 


.  4  - 

Fair  Ralesm*^n's   selliif^g  cost  is  15^  in 
our  line.     Average   coat  per  call  f 2. 56. 


Av»rmgo  cost  per  call  |2.75 


M.Qn'ifacturftr  ©£  stgve»t   a^d  rainge^'      Salesman' «    -^fiTlt^g   ^^»Ull;    cost   per   call 

""'"'      (oitf)  80  Ct»nt8;  country  $4:. 00, 


Acceptiog  these  figures  as  repreaf^ntativ*?.  It  would  appear  that  the  avfor^e 
cost  per  call  i»  arouitd  |5.tgO,  v^ryiug  greatli,  of  course,  with  the  iatensity 
of  the  territory  and  tb«  cVtaraoter  of  the  aal^,  tuia  figure  may  be  quite  out 
of  proportion  for  your  businf^ss,  but  it  will  serve  as  a  general  vorking  figure. 
VAFIIOOS  WAYS  IN  WHICH  CALLS  MAY  BB  INCRRASED:   If  the  m^asur^^ment  of  succesaful 


vcww^i^v-WMi 


sale^  management  was  number  of  calls  alone,  it  would  be  a  simple  matter  to  maka 
a  showing  on  that  basin,  A  bonua  for  incrjaaaad  calls,  such  b,&   some  of  the 


typewriter  coinpanit^n  use,  would  accomplish  that  result.  As  already  stated  in 
these  reports,  the  Remington  Typewriter  Compaoy  materially  increased  calls  and 
at  the  same  time ,sale8,  by  paying  so  muoh  per  call  in  addition  to  the  usual 


nMrmuMMMMK'  ^- 


commission  on  sales.   Better  routing  of  men  is  another  effective  way  to  in- 
crease quantity  callii.   Uaxiy  concerns  are  now  usiing  the  ^blDck"  e;ystem,  which 
gives  each  salesman  a  definite  number  of  accounts  to  look  after.   The  Hood  Tire 
Company  fix  this  figure  at  (40)  fourty^  gquiping  sale^smeti  making  country 
territory  with  automobiles is  still  another  expedient  that  haii  already  received 
consideration,  but  which  is  destined  to  grow  in  popularity. 


In  connection  with  working  small  towri^,  we  quoty  a  general  letter  j>ent  ou 


I 


by  i.  S.  Thomas,  general  ;jalea  manager,  Pratt  Food  Company,  Phiiadeli..hia,  which 
may  prove  suggestive: 
TO  ALL  SALE3I0W: 

fe  have  before  us  a  Daily  Report,  dated  November  12+h,  sent  in  by 
llr,  F,  R.  Carson,  who  covers  Sastern  Indiana  and  a  few  countiejs  in  Ohio 
and  Kentucky.   The  further  we  check  up  this  report  th«  more  intBrosting 


"  8  " 


r^ 


r 


it  becomes.  The  facts  are  sufficient  to  tell  the  story  nithout  a 
"flowery  write-up.'* 

Mr.  Carson  made  nine  towns  in  Huntington,  Wells  and  Wabash  count- 
ies, Ind.  (mminly  ftuntington)  on  November  12th,  The  population  of  the 
LARQSST  town  he  made  is  just  ONE  HUNDRED  AND  SUVSKTY-FIVE,   None  of 
the  towns  have  over  tw^^  stores  that  could  be  considered  prospects  for 
products  in  our  line.  Moat  of  them  have  only  one  store.  Every  one  of 
these  towns  is  located  off  th«  railroad  and  are  so  small  acd  seemingly 
so  unimportant  that  every  Pratt  representative  that  has  made  Eastern 
Indiana  in  years  gone  by,  ban  passed  them  up  as  not  worth  th©  time  and 
expense  it  would  take  to  make  them.   In  fact,  Mr,  Carson  himeelf,  who 
works  his  territory  very  closely  as  a  rule,  "passed  up"  this  particular 
bunch  of  towns  last  season.  The  result  was  that  we  hadn't  a  dealer  in 
a  single  one  of  these  nine  towns. 

But  this  year,  F.  R.  Carson  (who,  by  the  way,  is  the  hustling 
"Jerry"  Carson's  brother)  is  beating  his  own  record  for  working  hi$ 
territory  closely  and  is  not  missing  a  .stnglQ  dealer  that  is  in  a 
position  to  sell  *'Pratts,"  So  he  covered  these  nine  small  towns. that 
had  for  years  be«n  considered  unworthy  of  attention  by  Pratt  salesmen 
aad  LAHDBD  A  DgALKR  IN  SKVKN  OF  THE  NINE,  T0RNXN9  IN  ORDiR«  THAT 
TOTALLED  $214.35  FOR  HIS  DAY'S  WORK. 

We  have  many  times  tried  to  briog  out  the  necessity  or,  what  is 
more  to  the  point,  the  advisability  of  working  the  small  towns  but  h^^re 
is  something  that*s  far  better  than  **ginger  up"  letters  telling  you  to 
"go  to  it"  --  here's  concretes  evidence  THAT  IT  PAYS  to  work  small  towns 
when  they  are  worked  with  the  same  aggressivenesb  that  you  work  larger 
points. 

On  second  thought,  we  are  going  to  do  more  than  simply  give  you 
the  factti  in  this  letter  --  we  are  goicg  to  send  you  a  copy  of  the  Daily 
Report,   When  you  are  tempted  to  pass  up  a  small  town  in  your  territory 
give  this  report  a  "once-over,"  note  the  neat  little  total  --  |214,35  -- 
that  Carson  turned  in  for  the  day  he  spent  covering  a  bunch  of  towns 
that  seemed  like  "100  to  1  shotd",  then  go  after  the  best  prospect  in 
the  particular  small  town  that  you  have  in  mind  and  get  his  order. 

So  important  does  the  average  subscriber  consider  this  matter  of  intensive* 

ly  working  territories  to  be,  that  nearly  all  are  increasing  the  number  of 

cars  in  use  by  salesmen.   The  New  Idea  Spreader  Company  advise  ut<  that,  they 

expect  to  have  nearly  G5  cars  in  use  by  next  spring.  Robt,  H,  Ingersoll  A 

Bro,  are  working  along  the  same  lines:  P.  S.  Salisbury,  in  charge  of  ifales 

promotion  writes:  "It  is  very  seldom  that  our  men  have  to  jump  more  than  five 

or  ten  miles  between  towns,  and  even  though  the  next  "town"  may  be  but  a  cross 

roads  store,  this  store  serves  a  definite  community  that  needs  Ingersoll 


-  6  - 

•afcches."  The  subject  of  salesman's  automobiles  has  already  been  considered 
in  these  reports  (Report  No.  28)  but  the  following  excerpt   from  the  minutes  of 
a  recent  convention  of  aale^imen  .lelling  Larro-feed,  may  be  of  intere^jt  at 
this  time: 


Ur,  Sloan: 

I  have  a  few  brief  notes,  which  will  give  a  general  outline:   In 
the  first  place  the  object  of  a  Larro-feed  salesman  is  to  cover  a  given 
territory  and  call  on  Larro-fead  dealers  or  Larro-feed  prospects.   His 
efficiency  is  in  a  great  measure  determined  by  his  ability  to  get  from 
one  point  to  another,  and  to  shorten  time  between  milestones.  Whether 
a  machine  would  be  an  advantage  or  not  can  only  be  determined  by  a  care, 
ful  analysis  of  each  individual's  territory  as  foliow«:  First  - 
character_of_tgi:rl.tQry  ftgd  road  conditions,  as  compared  to  rail  facili- 
tiiB^a.   Second  •  kind  o£  machine  u  ed,  and  mechanical  attention  It    ^ 
receives.  Third  -  cost  per  mile,  as  compared  to  other  travel. 

I  have  found  ix  a  great  benefit  to  my  territory  to  have  an  auto- 
mobile, because  tfeor©  is  so  much  of  it  that  cannot  be  covered  by  rail 
very  quickly,  and  I  have  also  found  that  some  times  you  meet  a  man  -  a 
new  prospect  -  on  whom  you  find  it  necessary  to  spend  quite  a  little 
time,  and  just  when  you  think  you  have  him  tied  up,  it  is  train  time 
and  you  don't  want  to  remain  there  over  night,  and  may  let  that  fellow 
slip  and  perhaps  lose  the  order  because  you  have  to  catch  the  train, 
whereas,  with  a  machine  you  can  tear  your  time  tables  up  and  go  when 
you  get  ready. 

In  regard  to  the  cost  of  operating  a  card,  I  figure  that  your 
first  10,000  mil&s^ia  the  most  economical,  because  you  don't  have  to 
charge  off  »o  much  depreciatiion;  I  figure  that  at  about  1^  a  mile,  but 
af^.er  you  run  10,000  miles  &nd   start  your  second  10.000  miles  tou  prob- 
ably havu  to  spend  19^  a  miieJ.QJtJaL£t«i£  and  then  charge  off  anatb^>r  l4  ^ 
a  mile  for  depreciation;  in  other  words,  it  will  cost  you  4J^  for  the 
aecon^  10,000  milea.   Of  course,  that  is  aTTHbtermliaed  by  the  operator, 
and  one  man  will  spend  more  than  another,  so  it  all  works  down  to  the 
individual  man  and  the  individual  territory  ha  ha^  to  cover.   I  figure 
rha*5  the  cosfc  for  the  fir:::.t  10,000  miles  will  be  about  as  follows :  fig- 
uring that  you  ca»  get  a  fairly  good  set  of  tires  for  about  $60.00 

l4   per  mile  for  tires 

1-1/2^  per  mile  for  gfisoline  and  oil 

li   par  mile  for  upkeep  and  depreciation. 

-  a  total  of  Zii   per  mile  for  the  first  10,000  miles. 

For  the  second  10,000  miles  -- 

l4   per  mile  for  tires 

1-1/2^  per  mile  for  gasoline  and  oil 

2i   per  mile  for  upkeep  and  depreciation. 

-  a  total  of  ^ii   per  mile  for  the  second  10,000  miles. 


«  7  * 

This  is  plus  the  toll  chargea  that  have  to  bQ  paid.  Taking  a  year' a 
work  you  can  safely  add  two  days  a  week  mora  to  your  account,  makitti: 
100  daya  more  actual  work  in  a  year  with  a  machine  than  you  can  without 
it.  I  ha70  found  that  to  lay  th©  toachinif  up  for  a  few  days  I  feel  com- 
pletely lost  without  it.  The  actual  cost  of  a  machine,  however,  is 
only  one  that  can  be  divided  by  thw  individual  saleBican,  the  amount  of 
territory  he  has  to  cover,  and  the  kind  of  roads.   It  is  very  convenient 
to  have  a  machine  if  you  should  drop  up  to  a  maa's  place  and  he  saysj 
•^Bill  Smith  got  200  Iba.  of  Larro  the  other  day;  didn't  like  it,  want§ 
hiH  money  back"  --  you  get  him  to  jump  into  your  machiine  and  go  out  in 
a  few  minutes,  otherwise  it  may  take  you  half  a  day  to  go  up  there  arid 
straighten  that  fi>llow  out.  Furthermore,  each  man  has  a  radius  of  per- 
haps 100  square  miles  to  cover  --  if  there  is  not  a  Larro-feed  dealer 
within  a  radius  of  ten  mileM,  there  is  a  Larro-feed  prospect,  and  if  you 
did  not  have  the  machine  you  would  skip  these  othe^r  places,  as  th*r© 
might  be  a  railroad  line  by  which  you  probably  could  not  maka  thosp 
stops  within  three  days  time.   Another  thing  is  that  a  good  many  of  our 
dealf^ra  -  some  of  our  best  dealers  -  are  located  back  off  the  railroad 
points.   An  automobile  ip;,  therefor*?,  especially  valuable,  because  it 
enables  un«  to  get  off  of  the  main  trav-eled  roada  -  the  place  that  in 
easily  covered  by  all  aalesmen,  and  seem?*  to  me  we  stand  a  better  chanoe 
of  interesting  a  man  and  getting  him  to  take  on  Larro,  H^   does  not  see 
so  many  feed  r^alenmep  -  is  probably  jusn  in  need  of  aom»CliTng~Io~com7ete 
^Tth  Ut'iion  Grains  or  Unicorn,  and  is  vary   ready  ari<3  anxious  to  taka  on  a 
feed  like  that.   It  is  all  up  to  the  man  giving  an  honeBt  analysis  of 
the  conditions  in  his  territory. 

Ilr.  Ifhite: 

Ah  far  as  my  machine  is  concerned,  it  ha.-^  b«en  the  biggest*  help  in 
my  ttjrritoryj  bu^  h»r^  is  where  I  made  the  first  miH'^'.ake,  thai;  I  did  not 
get  a  good  machine.   In  the  last  month  or  i^Q   I  have  opened  up  many  ntw 
accounts  that  I  naver  could  have  securt^d  without  a  machine?.   Stm-^  of  the 
towns  would  have  taken  me  a  whole  wet»k  to  mak^s  unless  I  drove,  and  prac- 
tically in  every  one  of  those  towns  I  opened  up  new  acoountB  on  Larro- 
feed,  but  here  is  the  propo.-jltioni  In  the  territory  I  cover  in  North- 
eastern Ohio  the  roads  are  fairly  good,  but  after  I  leave  Toungstown  and 
get  down  in  that  hilly  .section,  it  is  just  hill  after  hill,  and  I  cannot 
dep«tnd  on  a  Ford,   I  noed  a  heavier  car.   then  a  man  is  driving  85  to 
100  milen  a  day  it  Is  too  mich  wear  and  tear  on  him  to  drive  a  Ford, 
There  is  no  question  but  what  a  machine  is  the  biggest  kind  of  a  help. 
Before  I  had  the  machine  my  expenses  some  months  would  run  a&  high  a^ 
$69.00  on  cars  alone,  and  a  proposition  to  hire  a  livery  rig  is  too  ;ilow, 

RBDUatlON  OF  SIZE  OF  TERRITORIES:  Most  of  our  .ubsoribars  aljjo  report  that 

they  are  slashing  sales  territory  in  an  sffort  to  get  the  .^ales  task  down  ^o 

the  point  of  greatest  efficiency.  Ur.  H,  B.  Peterson,  aal^s  manager  of  tho 

Beaver  Board  Company  writes:  "Starting  with  thfc'  first  of  the  year  we  will 


redistrict  our  sale.s  territory  taking  zontjs  aggregating  a  million  ^'opulation.•• 


-  8  - 


Ur.  R.  C.  Thompson,  treasurer  aod  sales  Branas^r  of  the  Qlobo  Optical  Company. 

Boston,  «rites: 

«hat  wt.  did  do  was  this  -  realizing  the  increasing  cost 
per  call,  in  our  sales  meeting  the  first  of  August  it  »as  decided 
to  call  on  every  customt-r  within  the  next  six*?  dayc.  In  eiplaoa- 
nion,  we  cover  our  territory  practically  once  every  thirty  days; 
in  the  Holiday  season,  of  course,  a  great  many  are  found  to  be 
away   Our  idea  in  adopting  the  slogan  "see  every  customer  onoe 
within  the  next  sixty  doys"  was  to  double  back  and  catch  the  man 
who  had  been  away  -  in  other  words,  make  every  call  come  sometime 
within  that  sixty  days.  This  ha.  worked  out  extremslj  well;  we 
have  now  gone  through  one-half  the  period  and  our  salesmen  have 
made  a  high  percentage  of  calls  and  have  reached  their  man. 

Ur.  C.  J.  LaFluer,  aalea  manager  of  the  Larrowe  Milling  Company,  Detroit, 

Michigan,  sends  along  the  following  suggestion  as  an  aid  to  salesmen  in  making 

sure,  .hat  they  are  working  their  territories  thoroughly  and  getting  the  maxi- 

Bum  yield  of  business  out  of  tht-m  at  the  lowest  cost  per  callt 

While  I  was  on  the  road  I  had  a  little  system  that  worked 
out  very  well  for  me,  and  I  am  sure  it  would  for  you.  I  would  put 
a  black  dot  for  all  the  dealers  in  my  territory,  a  circle  for 
the  prospects,  and  a  square  for  the  calls  that  I  made.  I  would 
try  to  change  the  pquar«b  to  circles  and  put  dots  in  the  circles, 
because  as  you  know,  every  time  a  dot  is  put  in  a  circle  is  shows 
that  the  Larrowe  Milling  Company  has  a  now  dealer. 

There  are  many  other  ways  In  which  tha  number  of  calls  per  day  may  be  in- 
created,  among  them  reducing  «aie«  resistance  by  advertising  and  other  form. 


iiM*iiiiiiWyiarii» 


of  promotional  effort.  In  this  connection,  the  following  testimony  of  «.  K. 
Russell,  gea«ral  sale»  manager  of  the  Duplicator  Manufacturing  C-impan,  is  of 

interest: 

"The  biggest  factor  in  increAsing  dale«  call  afficit*ncy,  or 
cutting  down  the  coat  par  call,  i^   our  perastent.  aod  «X'.,n.ave  ad 
vertiaing  campaign,  both  in  national  mftgazlnea  of  wide  circulation 
and  direct  campaigns  a.  wall.   Tha  advertising  campaign,  have  taken 
us  out  of  the  field  of  the  unknown  and  has  established  for  u»  a 
reputation  as  a  businasn  staple.  This  factor  in  itself  naturally 
ha^  broken  down  that  tremendous  re  a  stance,   "Who  are  you.  where  did 
you  come  from,  how  long  havo  you  been  in  bunines^i."  e^c,  and 
instead  our  salesmen  are  invariably  welcomed  with  oi^en  arms/' 

then  the  product  i.  sold  direct  to  the  ultimate  users,  a«  is  the  case  with 


-  ^  - 


office  appliances,  ©ducaiional  courses,  automobllea,  office  equipment,  etc, 
it  han  been  found  that  the  number  of  calls  can  be  osat^rialljr  increased  by 
k»^eplng  a  etream  of  **leads*'  going  out  to  the  salesmen.  The  Addres&ograph  Co!s< 
pany,  Chicago,  recentlf  stated  in  a  bulletin  to  the  saleaaen  that  the  number 
of  calla  for  the  entire  organization,  as  shown  by  reports,  jumped  from  3,685 
during  the  manth  of  February  to  7,541  for  the  month  of  May  --  practically 
double.  The  reason  for  the  increase  «a&  a  special  **lead**  campaign  instituted 
during  that  month.  Outside  of  the  actual  sales  value  of  leads  of  thi^  iscrt, 
it  ha.-i  been  found  that  wh^in  you  hand  a  salesman  a  l«3ad  or  two  in  th^  morning 
it  has  a  stimulating  effect  on  his  work  for  that  day,  and  be  invariably  makes 


the  call  backs  he  has  scheduled  and  works  in  the  new  calld  as  wt^ll*   Left  to 
their  own  d6vic€>s,  sal&i^men  are  quite  likely  to  fall  into  the^  habit  of  calling 
back  on  a  limited  circle  of  prospects  without  devoting  enough  eii^srgy  to  adding 
new  material. 

OtTTlMS  MORE  OUT  OF  BVSRY  CALL:   It  Is  not  enough,  howev«r,  to  increan«  the 
number  of  calls  made  by  the  organization.   Of  still  greater  Importance  is  the 
need  of  making  calls  more  productive,   Th^tse  twa  features  go  hand  in  hand  and 
cannot  be  separated.  In  addition  to  methods  ihat  deal  more  directly  with 
developing  saleimen  into  bigger  business  getters,  which  subject  ha-  alr^^ady 
bt^en  covered,  we  find  that  Bubscribers  are  giving  more  careful  consideration 
this  year  to  the  equipment  which  salesmen  carry.  In  this  connection,  we  offer 


the  following  information  a$  being  worthy  of  consideration, 

yr.  P.  S.  Salisbury,  Robt.  H.  Ingeraoll  A  Brothers,  Mew  York  City,  makers  of 

Ingersoll  watches  writes: 


At  the  first  of  the  year  we  gave  the  salesmen  a  oew  salea  portfolio 
which  has  been  inatrum&ntal,  I  think,  in  conserving  the  salesm^in's  tumr 
and  cutting  dOwn  the  timf»  spent  on  each  call.   The  portfolio  is  laid  out 
in  what  we  believe  to  be  the  most  logical  and  orderly  method  of  putting 
the  Ingersoll  proposition  up  to  a  dealer,  and  I  believe  t^hat  a  salestRan 

} 


.  18  - 

who  uses  this  properly,  accomplishes  in  fifteen  minutes  ivhat  it  vould 
take  him  ono-half  or  three-quartt^rs  of  an  hour  to  do  la  the  ordinary 
haphazard  method  of  presentation,  this  portfolio  f;hOf3  dur  advertising 
efforts  as  they  affeot  the  dealer  a_nd  show  hira  hew  to  get  the  most  from 
the  advertising ♦  ihen  the  portfolio  was  laid  out  we  anticipated  easy 
selling  for  1919,  because  we  were  quite  sure  tha  demand  would  exceed 
the  supply  and  so  we  planned  the  portfolio  to  get  dealer  co-operation 
rather  then  immediate  dealer  orders*  le  wanted  to  train  them  to  co* 
operate  with  us  and  to  show  theizi  how  to  do  It.  We  were  not  disappointed 
when  we  found  that  this  method  resulted  in  getting  aa  much  immediate 
business  as  a  forcing  method  and  it  certainly  is  better  building  for 
the  future. 

lir.  Donald  U.  Wall,  of  the  Luther  Qrinder  Company,  yilwaukee,  makers  of  tool 

sharpsners,  vices,  ate,  vritess 

In  regard  to  the  salesman's  portfolios,  I  wish  to  state  that  our 
Dt^aler  men,  all  of  whom  make  their  territory  about  once  in  every  six 
months,  usjed  to  carry  a  portfolio  five  Inches  by  seven  inches  in  nige. 
We  have  this  year  increased  this  portfolio  to  a  siJe  eigh^  inches  by 
ten  inches  and  find  that  the  larger  photographs  help  them  to  s^ll  our 
grinders  much  more  readily,  in  fact  we  have  bj^en  surprised  that  in  many 
canes  our  men  can  sell  just  as  many,  if  not  more,  grinders  without 
3slmple^s,  but  with  this  new  portfolio  than  they  used  to  when  carrying 
the  samples  and  the  old  amall  portfolios.   It  has  proven  to  us  that 
good  pictures,  sufficiently  large  in  aiie  to  give  the  hardware  dealer  a 
correct  idea  of  just  hr>w  the  machine  looks  will  go  a  long  way  to  make 
the  amount  of  the  order  of  a  good  siie.   Also,  one  of  the  mo^t  important 
facts  is  that  the  portfolio  which  ahow:j  care  and  also  that  the  firm  has 
put  some  expense  In  it  creates  a  better  impression  of  the  house  than  a 
small  cheaper  one.   Our  new  portfolios  have  paid  us  mauy  dollars  this 
year  and  we  suggest  that  othpr  firms  who  are  figuring  to  save  expense  on 
the  sixe  of  these  portfolios  are  '"putting  the  cart  before  the  horti©.'* 

Ihr.  E.  K.  Woodrow,  of  tha  Krohn-Fechhyimer  Company,  makbr^  of  the  Red  Cross 

shoe,  writess 

We  have  a  very  keen  interest  in  the  efficiency  of  the  sale»  call 
and  r>his  we  endeavor  to  improve  by  keeping  the  trade  allv*>  to  who  we  are 
and  what  we  are  doing,  and  by  standardlxing  our  sales  solicitations  to 
dovetail  with  the  advertising  generally. 

The  background  of  our  sales  work  is  our  trade  paper  advertising 
which  we  supplement  with  a  mail  campaign  directed  to  prospects  furnished 
by  the  salesman. 

The  proposition  for  the  retailer  ia  visualized  feo  him  by  means  of  a 
portfolio  carried  by  each  salesman  in  which  are  shown  the  consumer  adver- 
tising and  samples  of  various  sales  helps  designed  to  get  business  for 
the  merchant. 


The  story  we  have  to  tell  to  each  merchant  is  fully  described  in 


-  11  - 

a  booklet  provided  the  raTestnan,  in  which  are  included  objections  that 
may  arise  and  the  best  answers  we  know  of  to  those  objections. 

In  effftct  this  booklet  is  a  sales  manual,  but  we  do  not  term  it 
sjuch  in  presenting  it  to  the  men.   It  is  offered  as  a  record  for  compli- 
cation of  the  experienc€»3  of  the  men  themselves, 

Mr.  8,  B.  ieber,  of  she  Benjamin  Klectric  Company,  Chicago,  electrical 
specialties,  writes: 

About  eight,  yr^ars  ago  when  the  first  increase  in  our  Sales  Organiza- 
tion took  place,  it  was  the  practice  to  advise  our  men  to  sell  the  idaa 
aiid  not  the  produce.   In  thotie  days  the  variety  of  our  product  was  very 
limited  and  there  were  no  competitors  of  any  consequenca  in  the  field . 
The  men  were  then  instructed  than  belling  the  idea  meant  that,  sooner  or 
later,  the  prospect  would  buy  our  material  provided  conditions  would 
warrant.   It  was  the  province  of  the  salesmen  at  that  time  to  «ee  that 
such  conditions  wore  fully  explained.   It  was  his  duty  further  to  see 
that  all  jobbers  were  also  acquainted  with  and  sold  on  the  idea. 

•hfe^n  other  companies  biigan  to  manufacture  articles  v^lmilar  in  ideas, 
bui  varii^d  in  construction,  our  men  did  not  change  thtJir  m<^thod  of  sell- 
ing, and,  consequently,  it  very  oftbn  occurred  that  after  we  sold  th**' 
prospect  on  the  idea,  one  of  our  compe niters  sold  him  on  th«5^ir  product. 
It  13  now  our  inii^ructions  to  our  man  to  actually  sell  our  product  on  the 
so  called  missionary  triy,  the  idea  being  that  if  a  customer  ha-  Bome  of 
our  products  on  trial  whtn  the  condition^  are  not  particularly  ripe,  or 
hatj  no  ^/ar'.icular  ust*  for  them  at  pr«^.H©nt,  he  will  b«*  in  a  position  to 
know  exactly  what  our  product  does  wh^n  he  ia  m  n«*ed  of  a  product  of 
that  character.   Further,  that  due  to  finding  out  the  good  qualities 
from  actual  exp&riencs,  it  is  a  great  deal  harder  job  for  our  competitorts 
to  overcome  these  convictions  to  their  ^ales  talks. 

•e  found  that  selling  the  idea  left  impressions  which  could  be  over- 
cum»  and  which  were  not  perman»5nt.   The  impressions,  however,  from  mater- 
ial purchased  and  actually  tri^d  out  were  lasting  and  m^^ant  future 
orders.   With  these  facts  in  mind,  we  developed  a  sample  case  which  con- 
tained an  assortment  of  material  which  we  believe  should  be  in  the  hands 
of  retailers.   We  also  developed  carrying  casea  for  bulkier  products  so 
that  they  might  be  ^hown  direct  to  the  consumer  and  in  most  cases  shown 
In  operation,   lie  have  found  that  the  salesmen  who  actually  display  our 
product  were  our  most  succer^sful  men,  and  who  not  only  aold  matt>rial,  but 
offered  instructive  criticism  which  we  could  not  have  gotten,  in  any  other 
way.   These  criticisms  were  dwvwloped  during  the  course  of  discus aion  of 
the  product  by  our  salesman  with  the  prospect, 

Onder  tht:  present  idea  if  selliug  the  product  rather  than  the  idea, 
we  have  found  -^hat  the  initial  call  is  more  productive  and  that  rfspeatftd 
orders  follow  with  greater  regularity  then  if  the  customer  ordered 
after  the  salesman's  call* 


The  Kit  or  Display  caso  t^  made  up  <?o  that  the  cu^^tomer  would  not 
be  confronted  with  the  entire  display  when  the  salesman  opened  the  case. 


MtfcJHJiiiiM  flJTiiiiiiliiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiww 


-  12  • 

A   4«  n^tA*  would  distract  the  prospeots  attention 
Such  a  °°f  *"°»  Jf^^"f,/  ,tc  man  «'  at  that  moment  explaining  to  the 
froa  the  device  .hich  *f  J';^;'^;"^;^'^,,  ^  tj^,.  explaining  It  and  plac 
rnrrt1;cjr;f^:u::"co:t:red°"tL\ttent.on  or  the  prospect  on  one 
device  at  a  time  and  gave  him  a  distinct  Impression. 
yr.  W.  A.  UcDermld.  sale,  manager  of  the  Uennen  Compan,.  Newark.  Hew 

Jersey,  writes: 

•   „  A   ««.-«  n<»rafull5  with  this  problem  and  believe  we 
■e  have  experienced  very  oaroiuAij  wi        r   

.ave  Trrfved  at^ts  »olut.o..  f  Jj^-^J;,;-;-;:,  Td  Itirorother 
heavy.  Th«y  did  not  have  --jtj^^^iir,;;,:;^:.^^  material.  Above 

:;rt;;,°;erus;:iirs:  :L"ruc.ed  .hat  ---^--^-rof  r  nr 

on   ;  counter  the  dealer  was  more  concerned  ''*'°^.\*J«  Jf  J  j'^^^"'  ,, 
anish  Of  hi«  counter  than  ha  was  about  the  °//;^f  J'  »  "JJ^S';?  , 
ngured  that  ---'  ^^J^:::;::^;;.^^  t  rs:c;rU  the  ver,  best 

•*..  firKt  case  that  we  made  was  of  the  finest  kind  of  leather. 

The  first  caae  tna*  we       „o-t,olio.  but  considerably  heavier. 
Buch  as  18  used  in  a  brief  case  °^  P°^"°"°'  .^  ^  b^ok  so  that  the 
It  was  made  with  two  big  pockets  to  open  up  like  a  book  s  ^^ 

.bolellne.  lai.be  fore  th«  °««"5f  ^^  " /jf,'';;;,^;?^  pockets  which 

iSTfWSrTor  a  good  sample  case.)  We  had  big  f^'"''^^^^"  '  ^  „«riB8  of 
an  asB^Ju  i"«  "■  »         ^11  r.^Aav   Vinnks  eto.   we  haci  a  series  ui 

contained  supplementary  '»'**«'^**iv°'^^^^,^°°„''"n  which  the  products 

•>  ...«  -ft.,  much  lighter  by  comparison  than  any  ever  seen, 
The  sample  o«se  was  much  lig     J    v         ^^  ^^^^^^^ 

and  its  quality  was  P*/'*'"*^'  ^^/'^''^.'^if  "nd  more  willing  to  in- 

were  "*«»^^'/"*«",:*f  ,1"  ;f,  '?hentrart  which  the  obvious  expen- 
spect  the  goods  on  that  account,   ine  inxor      ....^^   ^vo  fact  that 

aveness  and  beauty  of  the  «-«  -J-J-  -J  ^l   ^I  Ifto  Lvt  the  me- 
lt was  really  pretty  expensive  to  build   fe  tooK  pa  ^ 

keep  these  cases  in  --J^-  .^"/i^  :  ^.J f.Sr.Ic^and  had  them 
from  long  and  continued  handling  we  oruusui- 
restored  by  competent  leather  workers. 

then  it  became  necessary  to  secure  more  of  ^^e.e  we  improved  them 
„  ablndonmg  the  folding  ^-ture  and  making  --  "  f  '^^f^;,^,,.  ,,, 
.tralght  s;"8la  portfolio  -^J  ^^  -  '   "^/^^  ^„.  ,,,,%  ,   i/2  i^- 
over  all  dimensions  being  1^  V*  ""  [J^l^^^y,   the  samples  are  attached 
r ;he°;:h:r:::tari::  a1:e:ui:°m:lrial.  da^a  books,  etc. 

The  salesmen  were  very  much  slated  over  this  bag  ^j;;  ^^J  ""^^JJ, 

that  lly   can  take  the  panel  and  han<i  f  ^  P-^;;.?;  J^rj  w-thl 
druggist  will  then  be  hold  ng  ^he  pane  an  =-  ^^^^^^^^  ^^  ^^  .,,,3 
whole  line  and  unquestionably,  ^*^®,°*^^^^^^^?^  , . 
or  that'  product  if  he  is  not  familiar  with  it. 

.i.m4n«r  vniuBs  as  fou  wiH  readily  see.  Also 
This  bag  has  many  selling  values  as  juu 


7~ 


-  u   - 

•hen  in  checking  up  a  druggist's  stock,  the  druggist  and  the  salesman 
walks  over  with  the  panel  and  they  check  against  the  panel.  In  this 
way  the  druggist  can  be  shown  how  few  of  a  line  ho  carries  if  he  don't 
carry  the  whole  line,  or  Just  what  is  missing  and  so  oa* 

ie  have  had  much  less  difficulty  in  getting  our  men  to  carry 
samples  with  them,  because  of  the  lightness  of  the  case  and  ita  very 
distinguished  appearance.  The  men  are  proud  of  them  and  this  makes 
it  easier  to  have  the  samples  displayed. 

Mr.  ifartin  L.  Pierce,  merchandising  manager  of  the  Hoover  Suction  Sweeper 


Company,  offers  the  following  suggestions 


The  most  effective  thing  that  we  hava  done  during  the  year  is  to 
have  photographs  mad©  of  orders  bei«g  received  at  the  factory  and  fur- 
nishtheseto  the  men  bo  that  they  can,  when  talking  to  other  deal^rg, 
sh^jLilia-juMLat  orders  that  other  dealers  living  in  the  same  site  town 
of  the  same  electrical  lighted  population  are  ordering. 


This  is  especially  true  where  we  are  getting  our  dealers  to  antic- 
ipate their  needs.   It  has  been  the  custom  in  the  past  to  limit  future 
orders  to  ninety  days.  This  has  now  been  extended  to  one  year,  and  it 
is  our  sincere  wish  lo  practically  keep  the  output  of  our  plant  sold 
ahead  for  that  length  of  time,   Thri^sugh  the  practice  Just  mentioned 
this  has  all  but  been  accomplished  now. 

ANALYZING  THS  RSASQH8  BEHIND  LOST  CALLS?   No  matt.-r  how  carefully  the  equip- 

ment  may  be  worked  out,  or  how  thoroughly  the  presentation  made,  maximum 

results  per  call  cannot  be  obtained  unless  some  systematic  method  Is  installed 

to  locate  reasons  for  low  &ales  call  efficiency.  It  is  not  enough  to  know 

that  a  salesman  made  fifteen  calls,  five  interviews  and  two  sales,  Tou  muit 

also  know  why  the  other  three  interviews  were  not  productive.   This  brings  up 

the  inevitable  question  of  salesman's  reports^^  Along  these  lines  we  again 

quote  Ur.  Russell  of  the  Duplicator  Manufacturing  Company,  Chicago: 

I  believe  we  have  one  of  the  most  efficient  and  helpful  report 
systems  ever  created.  We  spent  nearly  a  year  in  an  effort  to  solve  the 
salesmena'  daily  report  problem,  and  we  now  have  a  system  in  which 
every  last  man  in  our  entire  organization  throughout  the  country  co- 
operates to  the  fullest  extent.   It  would  take  several  pages  to  describe 
this  system  in  detail,  but  I  can  give  you  here  the  dominant  thought, 
behind  it. 


When  our  ayst^im  was  finally  completed,  the  first  thing  we  did  was 
to  describe  it  in  detail  to  the  men  in  the  field.   We  told  them  why  they 
were  to  report,  how  their  reports  were  handled  at  the  home  office  and 


I 


-  14  - 

and  where  they  beneflt'*^ed  the  salesman  on  the  ground,  ffa  showed  the  process 
of  routine  from  the  time  the  saXeamen  make  out  the  reports  until  the  inforasa** 
tion  which  they  give  comes  back  to  them  in  suqto  a  way  as  to  be  very  helpful 

in  closing  sales.  I  believe  that  if  the  average  concern  demanding  dally 

reports  from  their  salesmen  would  tell  these  fellows  just  why  they  are  re- 
porting and  show  them  where  and  haw  the  reports  are  used  to  great  advantage, 
they  would  get  better  co-operation,  lie  couldn't  get  co-operation  until  99r" 
thought  it  all  out  and  established  this  present  fcyatem.  Today  it  is  100 
percent  efficient.  This  report  system  haa  been  the  means  of  encouraging  con- 
centrated effort  on  the  part  of  every  salesman  and  naturally  results  In  in- 
creased sales  efficiency. 

At  the  end  of  every  month  we  sent  to  each  salesman  the  results  of  hiii 
calls  during  the  month.   These  results  are  charted  for  each  territory  and 
point  out  every  weakness  in  every  salesman*  so  that  he  can  study  this  summary 
of  his  efforts  and  mak«  an  effort  to  improve.  The  results  of  each  call  are 
tabulated  from  day  to  day  and  at  the  end  of  the  month  the  summary  showa  each 
man  every  move  he  made  and  where  he  was  weak  and  where  he  was  strong  -- 
another  method  of  increasing  sales  call  efficiency* 

llr.  Russell  also  submits  an  analysis  he  made  of  the  calls  made  by  his 

salesmen  for  tho  month  of  llarch  (these  figures  show  only  calls  on  prospects, 

an  analysis  of  calls  made  on  users  is  shown  on  the  same  form.) 


Name 


Street 


1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  U  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24  25  26  27  28  29  30  31 

DAILY  PROSPECT  CALL  REPORT 


From 


Office 


Business 


Town 


State 


See 


Title 


Dept. 


Room 


Phone 


No. 


CALLED 


Date 


CHECK    USES 


Comb'n  Order  System 


Send 
Advertising? 


YES 


NO 


CHECK  USES 


Stock  Sheets 


CHECK    LEAD 


Nat'lAdv. 


Newspaoer 


Direct  Adv. 


Misc. 


CHECK     USES 


M 


Requisitions 


Check  Result  of  Call 


CaJI  Back 


Busy  or  Out 


Appt.  for  Demo. 


Devising  System 


<     B 

Pel 


Pencil 


H 


Inventory 


N 


Blank  Forms 


No  Progress 


Accounting  Forms 


Cost  Sheets 


Reports 


Agrees  to  Trial 


Factory  Work  Orders 


Specifications 


Charts  and   Graphs 


Objects  to  Price 


Bulletins 


Bids 


Number  Matters 


Gelatine 


Price  Changes 


Drawings 


Number  Copies 


■•  Purple 


10 


Hand  Writing 


Remarks 


11 


May  Develop  Later 


12 


Difficult  Personality 


13 


Going  to  See  Others 


14 


Replace  Hand  Process 


15 


Carbon 


16 


"       Stencil    " 


17 


Looking  for  Use 


18 


Insufficient  Use 


19 


Sold 


20 


Demonstration  O.K 


Signed 


21 


Trial  Failed 


L 


^^aiesman 


22 


No  Application 


A  Style  of  Salesman's  Report  found  effective  in  increasing 
sales  call  efficiency  for  the  Duplicator  llfg.  Co« 


•  18  - 


1  Appoiatment  40 

S  A|r6«s  to  trial  Vi 

I  Busf  or  Out  64 

I  Changing  Sjstem  6 

I  fteplacifig  10 
I  Replacing 
f  lie  placing 

|-  lieplaQing  Carbon  S 

I  Difficult  Personality  | 

10  Dislikes  Qdlatin  I 

11  Ob|ects  to  Price  20 

12  Objects  to  Purpl©  4 
l|  Objects  to  Hand  Writ 

l|  Subordinate  Objects  1 

16  Ultra- conservative  19 

16  Going  te  see  others 

17  Failed  3 

18  Sold  21 
1^  Demonstration  Oood  42 

20  Appt.  for  Deinondtr.  14 

21  Competition  g,P. 

22  ConpetitiOQ  F.f.  3 

TOTAL  CALlig  550 

No,  Sales  6$ 

%  Effective  Calls  U 

Trials  Out  6 

Trials  Placed  for  Year  11 

trials  Closed  for  Year  6 
Trials  Returned  for  Year   8 

%   Failures  for  Year  27 

Another  subscriber,  Qeorge  B,  lialone,  sales  manager  of  the  Dajrton  Splce  Hills 

Company,  also  attaches  importanoe  to  the  use  of  reports  in  keepiog  tab  on  the 

efficiencj  of  saleemett  in  calling  on  the  trade.  His  letter  followsi 

"Each  day  the  salesman  seods  us  a  detail  report,  glvleg  the  names 
and  street  address  of  every  dealer  called  on  in  the  various  towns  . 
visited  and  in  oonnection  with  this,  he  reports,  by  designation,  the 
names  of  the  various  dealers  who  are  handling  our  product.  He  also 
indicates  the  new  customers  which  are  secured.  After  this  report  is 
made  up,  the  salesman  recapitulates  the  information,  giving  the  number 
of  dealers  called  on,  how  maoy  new  oiistomers  were  sold  during  the  day, 
the  number  of  orders  secured  and  the  total  pounds  of  goods  sold.  As 
we  receive  these  recapitulation  reports  from  day  to  day,  we  ourselves 
recapitulate  on  a  weekly  report  sheet,  so  that  at  the  end  of  the  week 
we  have  before  us,  the  t^tal  number  of  dealers  called  on  during  the 
week,  how  many  were  found  handling  our  product  and  by  subtracting  this 
lattar  amount  from  the  formsr,  it  shows  how  many  dealers  were  called  on 
who  did  not  handle  our  product,  fe,  therefore,  can  quickly  see  how 
many  new  customers  were  sold  for  the  number  of  chances  offered.  Having 
constantly  before  the  salesman's  traveling  expense,  salary  and  value  of 
advertising  used,  we  can  quickly  determine  how  much  each  call  cost,  how 


\ 


.  16  . 

much  each  sale  C08t  and  the  sales  cost  per  hucdred  pouads  of  our  pro- 
duct. We  are  confident  t^hat  a  great  many  concerns  would  be  surprisad  to 
know  how  much  it  costs  them  every  time  their  sales  representative  steps 
his  foot  on  the  prospect's  door-sill.  A  con^iervative  estimate  in  our 
line  is  one  dollar  per  call,  le  therefore,  point  out  to  our  salesman 
how  very  very  important  it  is  if  it  costs  the  salesman  one  dollar  for 
each  prospect  interviewed  to  say  something  worbh  while  when  the  salesman 
gets  the  prospect's  attention. 

ene  of  the  draw  backs  to  any  system  of  reports  is  that  they  place  more  or  less 
of  a  task  on  the  sales  maic*ager»s  shoulders.  If  a  report  system  is  worth  while 
at  all  it  must  be  followed  by  the  sales  manager  himself  and  not  used  as  a  time 
clock  for  keeping  tab  on  tialesmen.  Some  sales  managers  are  substituting  in- 
timate personal  letters  for  reports,  or  else  supplementing  a  purely  routine 
report  with  field  letters.  The  Seamana  &  Cobb  Company,  Boston,  Uaas.  are 
developing  salesmen  alcng  these  lines  by  having  them  submit  difficult  selling 
'^i.^^gHt-Whifib  ar4i^n  turn  put  up  jo  ^^«  ^^oU   sales  organization,  th© 
replies  from  the  salesmen  afterwards  being  condensed  and  duplicated  for  the 
bene£U  of  the  whole  organization.  A  letter  of  this  kind  to  the  sala^imen 
follows: 

TO  ALL  SALESUH 

A  SSAGO  salesman  writes,  stating  in  effect,  that  he  had  called  upon 
a  large  manufacturer  of  overalls,  and  made  an  effort  to  sell  him  seme  of 
our  thread.  Here  are  the  points  in  his  interview: 

No.  1  The  house  has  been  buying  our  Buttonhole  and  Sergiog  Thread, 
but  has  not  been  buying  our  No.  SO  unbleached  Silk  fabash  which  would  be 
a  good  thread  for  their  stitching. 

Ho.  2  The  salesman  talked  quality  until  he  waa  ^'blue  in  the  face" 
but  all  the  buyer  would  say  is  "»hat  ia  the  price !•• 

No.  3  The  salesman  refused  to  tell  the  price,  but  insisted  that  the 
buyer  take  the  sample  tube  offered,  and  get  a  report  on  its  use  from  hir^ 
operators.  The  salesman  heped  that  if  this  thread  was  used  on  the  mach- 
ines  the  report  would  be  so  satisfactory  tha&  the  few  cents  difference  in 
the  price  of  the  tube  might  not  stand  in  the  way. 

No.  4  The  salesman  wants  to  know  whether  he  made  a  mistake  in  not 
telling  the  price.   Hia  reason  for  not  telling  g»as  the  belief  tfeat  if 
the  buyer  knew  the  price,  he  would  say  it  was  too  high,  when  ^h   a  matter 
of  fact,  he  would  not  know  whether  the  price  was  too  high  or  not,  for  he 


-  17  . 


could  not  know  th6  VALUE  of  the  thread  without  trying  it. 

No,  5  Tha  5al©sm*in  maintalna  that  as  the  buyer  did  not  know  th© 
price,  he  bad  no  ground  on  which  to  turn  it  down.   If  the  buyer  tried 
the  thread  and  learwed  itd  quality,  the  isaleeman  figured  he  might  be 
able  to  make  the  sale  -  regardless  of  price. 

Now  -  do  you  believe  thi.^  aaleaman  was  right  in  handling  the 
interview  as  he  di^T 

If  not,  why  not! 

If  you  think  he  was  right,  why  do  you  think  dot 

As  a  matter  of  COiPIRAnON,  please  reply. 
It  has  been  found  that  one  of  the  best  ways  to  get  salesmen  to  work  in  clo 
touch  with  the  offioe  is  to  eq^ip  the  men  with  iight  weight  folding  type- 
writers^  One  manufacturar  of  this  type  of  typewriter  has  recently  put  out  a 
hacduome  travelling  bag,  with  a  "'lower  story''  which  holds  the  typewriter.   In 
uKtng  it  the  sale&nun  usually  leave  the  typewriter  at  the  hotel,  and  carry 
their  price  lists,  samples,  etc,,  la  place  of  it  when  calling  on  the  trade. 
After  a  salesman  has  learned  to  operate  a  typewriter  he  loses  his  natural 
resontment  against  having  to  write  to  th«  office,  as  less  effort  is  required. 


ser 


It  ii  also  easier  for  the  office  to  read  the  letters,  and  it  further  i^cabl 


6S 


the  salesmen  to  conduct  necessary  correspondence  with  customers,  thereby  sav- 
ing stenographer's  feus,  which  help  to  awell  an  expense  account  although  thoy 
sometimes  come  disguised  as  meals  or  mileage. 

t    I  t 

There  art)  many  oth*r  aspects  of  this  problem,  but  those  presented  here  indic- 
ate bome  of  the  main  points  of  attack  coanmon  to  nearly  every  line  of  business. 
Other  reports  bearing  directly  on  the  subject  which  may  be  oonsultwd  in  your 
files  (we  can  furnish  copias  to  recent  subscribers  at  $1,50  each)  arei 


SALISMAN'S  AUTO  ALL0IIANCE3  &  UPKEEP  PRACTICES 

SALESMAN '6  PJCPORT  FORMS  AND  CHECK  UP  METHODS 

SALES  MANUAL  S0CK1BSTI0N3  AND  IDEAS 

D&VELOPIIO  MEDIOCRE  INTO  FIRST  CLASS  aALESMEN  ($1.00) 


Serial  Number  S28 

"       "  S23 

••       ••  819 

•       *  135 


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